York City Police and York City Fire crews responded to a motorcycle crash at the intersection of Roosevelt Avenue and Parkway Boulevard in York on Wednesday night at 10:13 p.m. (Gordon Rago -- Daily Record/ Sunday News)

A West Manchester Township police officer was in his cruiser on Route 30 - near Kenneth Road - when he saw a motorcyclist riding "in a reckless and erratic manner" Wednesday night, Chief Art Smith said.

Just after the officer flipped on his emergency lights, the motorcyclist, Wesley E. Dowsey, "accelerated at a high rate of speed and went south on Roosevelt Avenue," Smith said Thursday.

The officer did not pursue Dowsey, 34, of York, but eventually came upon the aftermath of the head-on crash between Dowsey's motorcycle and a Jeep in the northbound lane of Roosevelt Avenue in York, Smith said.

Smith said his department, including the officer who spotted Dowsey initially, is cooperating with Pennsylvania State Police, who were called in by Smith and York City Police.

State and York City police investigate the scene after a jeep crashed into a motorcycle on Roosevelt Avenue and Parkway Boulevard. (Gordon Rago -- Daily Record/ Sunday News)

As of Friday, Dowsey was listed in serious condition at York Hospital.

Pennsylvania State Police cited him for driving vehicle at safe speed, according to a news release.

State police reported that Dowsey was riding a Suzuki GSXR 1000 motorcycle heading south on Roosevelt Avenue from Route 30 at 10:13 p.m. when the crash occurred.

The Suzuki failed to negotiate a curve in the road near Roosevelt and Parkway Boulevard, crossed into the oncoming lane, striking a Jeep head-on, police said. Dowsey was thrown from his motorcycle into a nearby fence and was taken to York Hospital for "major injury."

Joey Pinarli, a witness to the accident said he saw the motorcycle crash into the Jeep.

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Pinarli, who was driving with his stepfather and mother behind the Jeep when the incident occurred, said the motorcycle caught fire shortly after impact and the bike's operator was thrown into a fence. The rider appeared to be unconscious as the fire crept closer, but rescue workers were able to pull him away before it reached him.

Corey Nichols, a resident on Parkway Boulevard near where the wreck happened, said he was inside his home when he heard a bang he compared to someone loudly slamming the hood of a car.